Blank Discussion Topic

How Much Does Trump Actually Work At Mar-A-Lago? Maybe Not So Much - The Huffington Post
https://apple.news/AW8d3LgweQRWg1tHrGRPJvg

Hypocrisy at its best !

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

mrussel1 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

^^^
Nothing wrong with being transactional in nature on the political front. This latest German talking head is all but forgotten now because the MSM has focused on the non-handshake instead of her words.
Why would you want to shake hands w/ someone that you oppose?
This isn't a sport it's your economy.
You still haven't answered if you agree or not w/ what your President said regarding Germany and NATO.

Gibberish

I would love to live in a world where I can just say gibberish to things I don't want to hear and carry on like I didn't say it.
Is that the liberal land?
Do you agree with what President Trump said about Germany and NATO?

Gibberish = things that are nonsense.., not things I disagree with.

http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2017/3/19/1645072/-White-House-claimed-Trump-had-a-day-full-of-meetings-but-the-truth-emerges-with-a-swamp-selfie

bootlegger10 said:

slightofjeff said:

bootlegger10 said:

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

Despite what you have heard from the FAKE NEWS, I had a GREAT meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Nevertheless, Germany owes vast sums of money to NATO & the United States must be paid more for the powerful, and very expensive, defense it provides to Germany!

Trump says and does a lot of terrible things, but some bluntness I do like is when he calls out countries that are not paying their fare share.

I didn't like when he mentioned the US wire tapping Merkel, but at the same time it is refreshing to hear that stuff and expose the hypocrisy of it all.

I am pissed that he is cutting funding to orgs like Meals on Wheels while he spends $3 million each weekend to go to Florida.

The President of the United States has no idea how NATO works. What an embarrassment.

Well, if the Politico article is correct, then the US pays 22% of NATO's costs and currently Germany hasn't paid its required 2% of GDP contribution (although the deadline is not yet passed). So, Trump's Tweet isn't too far off in that Germany hasn't yet met its obligations and that perhaps the US is paying more than its fair share (which Obama agreed according to this article). Trump's terrible though at communicating the details. Twitter is not a good format for complex topics. If you break his Tweet apart though he only says that Germany owes NATO (which they have underpaid so far), and then separately says Germany should be paying the US for the US's disproportionate support (the way I read it and what again Obama indirectly argued for).

http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-presidential-debate-fact-check/2016/09/trump-is-way-off-on-how-much-of-natos-budget-is-paid-by-the-us-228738

There are no "dues" to paid to NATO. No country agreed to pay 2% of its GDP to NATO. Each country did agree to spend at least 2% of its GDP on its own defense, in its own budget. And it is true that most countries have slipped below those thresholds.

But they don't "owe" that money to NATO or anybody else. What they "owe" is more money contributed to their own defense budgets, which are complicated things that have to pass legislative bodies (even in the U.S.). Most have vowed to get their budgets up by 2024.

It is absolutely fair to suggest other countries aren't completely living up to their part of the agreement. Many officials in many other administrations have noted the same.

Trump has a fundamental misunderstanding of how NATO works. It is not business relationship. It is a defense alliance, originally formed to buttress against Russian encroachment eastward. It is very much in the United States' best interests to have a strong and well-defended Europe. That's the part Trump doesn't seem to understand and I can't imagine why not (Hint: A strong NATO is bad for Russia).

Tiki said:

that's fucking horrible. Even if you support this asshole, you have to realize how fucked up that is.

you can shake hands like a fucking statesman as well.